Monday in Short-Season Ball: Cecchini’s Hit Streak Ends

SS Gavin Cecchini’s 16-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-3 in game one, leaving him one shy of Lucas Duda’s Cyclones’ team record. It amuses me for some reason that Duda holds this record. Duda hit safely in 17 straight games as a 21-year-old in 2007, while Cecchini hit safely in 16 straight as a 19-year-old.

Hard-throwing RHP Akeel Morris got his first start of the year in game one, and it went swimmingly: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 HBP, 3 BB, 5 K. He now owns a 0.47 ERA and 52 strikeouts agains 17 walks and 23 hits in 38.1 IP in Brooklyn this year. Morris, out of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, is essentially learning to pitch as a professional. His strikeout rate of 34% shows he’s learned well.

SS Amed Rosario, who’s all of 17 years old, was 1-for-4 with a triple Thursday. He’s hitting .249/.281/.378 with 14 extra-base hits, nine walks and 38 K in 48 games in his first exposure to professional baseball. That’s just fine. He is years, and years away at best.

I got a question about whether 22 year-old utility-man Yeixon Ruiz, who’s 22, can become a “legit” prospect. He’s played nine games at second, 16 games at third, 9 at short and 8 in the outfield, some leftfield and some center while hitting .318/.375/.364 in 43 games. He runs well, and he’s a decent enough athlete – that’s the good stuff. The bad: he’s 22 in the Appalachian League, beating up on younger opponents. That’s pretty much the end of the story, as far as I’m concerned. He’ll be 23 next year before he gets a shot at a full-season team. So, the answer is no: generally big leaguers are not 22 while repeating the Appalachian League.

The guys that matter most to me among position players in Kingsport are Rosario, and Champ Stuart. Stuart, the 20-year-old sixth round draftee has hit .220/.380/.322 in 34 games this year, dragged down by a slow August (.156/.235/.200 in 12 games). He’s an impressive athlete in centerfield as a plus runner with a plus arm.

Mets’ second-round pick Andrew Churchwent five innings or longer for his third straight start, that’s the good stuff. The less good: he gave up 12 hits and six runs. He’s now allowed 23 runs on 41 hits for a 6.43 ERA in 28 innings in the GCL.